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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27205259">Signs of the love fever</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/idk_ilike5sos/pseuds/idk_ilike5sos'>idk_ilike5sos</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Beacon Hills (Teen Wolf), Beacon Hills Hospital (Teen Wolf), Beacon Hills is a Beacon, Cute, Detective Stiles Stilinski, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Frenemies, Good Friend Stiles Stilinski, Good Friend Theo Raeken, Good Theo Raeken, Happy Ending, Liam Dunbar Loves Theo Raeken, Love Confessions, M/M, Oblivious Pack, Oblivious Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), POV Stiles Stilinski, Pack Meetings, Stiles Stilinski Finds Out, Theo Raeken Loves Liam Dunbar, Theo Raeken Needs a Hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:20:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,498</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27205259</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/idk_ilike5sos/pseuds/idk_ilike5sos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>During another pack meeting circling tactics to defeat Monroe once and for all, Stiles begins to look more closely at two pack members. More specifically, the two pack members together. And he can't help but notice how they act with one and other...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt, Liam Dunbar &amp; Stiles Stilinski, Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, Lydia Martin/Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall &amp; Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall/Malia Tate, Theo Raeken &amp; Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>211</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Sorry I haven't posted in a long time... :/</p><p>I've got/had a lot of things in the works for a while but never completed things due to either: loss in motivation, not having the right thought process to produce good work or I've gotten stuck on the plot and since I've lost my usual source of help it's been a lot harder to come to certain conclusions. Even this was supposed to be twice as long, but couldn't because the second part never came out right... Though, if all goes to plan, something else should be uploaded before (if not, on) Halloween. But that's not a promise, because I don't want to jinx anything... Heh</p><p>But, don't worry, I haven't just abandon everything! Not a day's passed without a thought of this account.</p><p>So, enjoy :)))</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Something wasn't right, the room felt different. Granted, Stiles was only human so he couldn't sense things like most of the others; but he still had instincts and they were telling him that something - <em>someone - </em>was off.</p><p>It clung to the tip of his tongue, he felt so close to figuring it out: yet, his tongue suddenly seemed like it was miles long. But he couldn't drop it, no matter how far from the truth he was.</p><p>Though, Stiles never was someone to give up on things. It didn't matter how small they might have been, he wouldn't walk away from something bothering him. Like he didn't with Theo, he was right about him from the start and he rode on that with pride. </p><p>For some reason, Theo was still allowed at the pack meetings, nonetheless. He was an evil, evil-doing, evil person! But he was <em>supposedly</em> not trying to kill people or take over the pack anymore. <em>"He's changed"</em>, <em>"he's saved my life",</em> <em>"we couldn't have done any of this without him"</em>. Stiles found that hard to believe, so he always kept an eye on him. He didn't care who said what, he wasn't planning on giving Theo a chance to trick them all. Not again.</p><p>Apparently, Malia wasn't either: when Stiles glanced around the room, he saw her clenching her fists and glaring at Theo. If one thing remained consistent in their relationship to friendship it was their mutual hatred towards Theo. </p><p>So poetic. Hate bringing people closer. </p><p>"But why would she go after a whole pack when there's omega's around every corner?" Theo asked Scott.</p><p>Stiles was surprised that he'd had the nerve to speak so confidently in a room full of people that would prefer him dead. </p><p>"Because she might have been working with Gerard, but she's still not a professional. Monroe just wants all supernaturals dead, so she'll try and do it quickly rather than tactically."</p><p>They'd last had contact with Monroe after the death of the anuk-ite. It'd been almost a year since, spent trying to find and stop her once and for all. Recently, they had been getting updates of her slowly edging closer, back into Beacon County - it was just a matter of time until she'd be facing off against the pack again. But this time, they were all more prepared than ever.</p><p>"Amateur," Theo scoffed and rolled his eyes. Only Stiles was paying enough attention to hear, at least that was what he thought until he heard Liam giggle. Stiles' eyes narrowed and he inspected the pair more closely.</p><p>Theo had his arms crossed but loosely, like he'd calculated that if someone was to attack him he'd have enough time to get his arms free to defend himself. Most of his weight seemed to be shifted on his right - closer to Liam - and he had his head held high, though chin slightly tilted in Liam's direction. It almost looked like he couldn't hear properly, so had to have his head to the side to understand what was being said.</p><p>Stiles frowned and looked down, to realize he was doing the same with himself, but to Lydia. It didn't necessarily mean anything, Theo just knew that Liam would be most likely to defend him if anyone was to pounce. Stiles was really beginning to hope Malia would soon.</p><p>Liam was easier to read than Theo. Like most teenagers, he never was one to cover things well. And his IED somehow made it that much more obvious of what he'd be portraying. He had his arms by his sides, fingers twitching every few seconds like they're holding back from doing <em>something</em>, and the top of his body was leaning forwards, to the left. Where Theo was. Liam was looking up at him with big eyes, stuck in thought, clearly not paying attention to a word being said and Stiles wondered whether Theo had been listening either, but instead asked a question to make it seem like he was. </p><p>"What do you think, Liam?" Stiles tested his theory. He knew he wouldn't be able to catch Theo off guard since he's as tense as ever and had to of listened in on some points. Besides, he wouldn't be able to do it casually enough. </p><p>Everyone changed their focus to Liam, where he hadn't clocked in on the change in pace. Theo turned his head to Liam and frowned, then nodded to everyone watching them. </p><p>"Oh, um," Liam thought. "I agree, we should keep checking in with Argent and the Sheriff on Monroes location, then not engage in fights until she does - <em>after</em> entering Beacon Hills." </p><p>Okay, so maybe he was paying more attention than it seemed, but still. Everyone else continued with their discussion on what position would be smartest to take, as Stiles kept watching the two boys interact. </p><p>Theo smirked at Liam, then faced back towards the pack that he was not a part of. He looked down and shook his head. "Dumbass." </p><p>"Asshole," Liam mumbled, but bit back his bottom lip to mask his rising smile. </p><p>Stiles needed to check if he was the only one seeing what he was. When he batted his eyes between the pair and each pack member, he found them still deep in their own conversations. The meeting was coming to an end and they'd moved on from the topic on Monroe - instead, getting lost in the subjects of their own lives. It was driving Stiles insane to be the only person experiencing something so peculiar.</p><p>Peculiar, but fitting.</p><p>As far he heard, they worked well together. Too well, apparently. Well enough for them to actually get along and– oh no. <em>Oh no.</em> They weren't just getting along well, they were– they– they <em>liked</em> each other, in a more than friendly way! <em>Oh. No.</em> Theo and Liam. <em>Theo and Liam.</em> Where they already, you know, <em>together</em>? Did they even know the other liked them? Did they even know <em>they</em> liked each other? Oh, God. This was bad. Very bad.</p><p>"Scott," Stiles couldn't keep it to himself, he had to make sure he wasn't losing his mind. He, probably too aggressively, patted Scott's arm. "Scott, look!" </p><p>Stiles subtly jabbed his finger at Theo and Liam, who were in their own conversation, smiling at each other.</p><p>What would they even talk about? God, would Stiles even want to know?</p><p>Scott nodded. "Yeah, it's great that they're friends." </p><p>"What– <em>What?</em> Scott, they're not just friends, they're <em>getting along!</em>" Stiles hated his best friend sometimes. Well not hated, but got very much annoyed by him. </p><p>"Yeah... Because they're friends." Scott frowned at Stiles like he was as crazy as he felt.</p><p>"No– No, no, no, no, no. They're not just friends, okay? I mean, look at how they're..." Stiles waved his hands in the direction of the two boys, at some attempt of meaning something. </p><p>"What does that even mean?" Scott said, becoming more lost by the second. </p><p>"I don't know, I was kinda hoping you'd figure it out." Stiles shrugged sheepishly and began biting his thumbs nail, whilst thinking of a way he could explain what's happening between them to Scott. </p><p>"Stiles, I know you still don't like Theo, but Liam does." </p><p>"See, now that's the point! <em>Liam likes–</em>" </p><p>"Scott?" Malia cut him off. </p><p>"Oh, for the love of–" Stiles groaned. </p><p>"Can we go yet? I'm getting kinda hungry." </p><p>"Yeah, sure." Scott turned back to Stiles. "Just leave them alone. They're getting along, they're friends, it's nice. Can you promise me you won't get in between that?" </p><p>"Nope." </p><p>"Stiles..."</p><p>"No, I will not leave it alone because they are in l–"</p><p>"Stiles?" he was again interrupted just as he was about to make his point, but this time by Lydia so he couldn't stay mad. "Can we leave now, too?"</p><p>Scott and Malia had already started to head out before Stiles got another chance to finish. He looked back to Theo and Liam. </p><p>"Can you give me a ride home? Mason's going to Corey's and he lives in the opposite direction to me." </p><p>"What's in it for me?" </p><p>"Well..."</p><p>Stiles had to stop listening, he didn't want to risk hearing anything that would keep him up at night for longer than he was already going to be. </p><p>"Stiles?" Lydia snapped her fingers in front of his face.</p><p>"Right, yeah, sorry. We can leave."</p><p>Stiles knew that something was going on between Theo and Liam, he didn't have any physical proof, but watching them closely was enough to know. Another thing that Stiles was certain of was how desperately he wanted to stop sharing a space with them whilst everyone else remained oblivious. So going home was definitely the least destructive idea he had.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Not sent to editor or beta reader (because I wanted this out as soon as tbh)</p><p>(Also, expect a loooong note at the end)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I'll do it," Stiles announced.</p><p>Supposedly, there was a cave in the middle of the woods that had a bunch of dead bodies in. Stiles' dad had told them that the deaths seemed to be caused supernaturally. Cue Scott calling a pack meeting, then without anyone having a chance to step forwards to investigate, Stiles had already volunteered.</p><p>"Okay, so you and Lydia–" Scott started.</p><p>"Actually," Stiles cut him off. "I was thinking I could go with someone else. You know, switch things up a bit."</p><p>"Okay." Scott's eyebrows drew together. "Who?"</p><p>"Theo." Stiles shrugged nonchalantly, like he hadn't just named the person he despised most.</p><p>The pack went silent, exchanging various confused glances between themselves and Stiles. Only then, Stiles noticed that Theo hadn't even shown up to the meeting… nor had Liam. <em>Typical.</em></p><p>"Why?" Malia asked through her usual sour grimace that appeared whenever Theo's mentioned.</p><p>"I'm good with investigations and he's–" Stiles insisted through gritted teeth, "–got a good understanding of the supernatural, because of The Dread Doctors."</p><p>With just the mention of The Dread Doctors, therefore Theo's past, he started to reconsider his options.</p><p>"Oh," Scott replied through suspicion.</p><p>"Well, I'm fine with it," Lydia spoke up. "If it means that I don't have to go traipsing through the woods in the middle of the night again, then you can go with whoever you want."</p><p>Stiles smiled triumphantly. "See? It'll be fine!"</p><p>"Yeah, if by '<em>fine</em>' you mean only one of you'll be coming out alive," Malia scoffed.</p><p>It took some work, but eventually Stiles was able to convince the pack of letting him and Theo search the cave alone. Of course, Theo and Liam were yet to become aware of this, but still. It was a start.</p><p>At the end of the meeting, Scott pulled Stiles aside. "Is this about Theo and Liam being friends?"</p><p>
  <em>Obviously. Except, they weren't <strong>just</strong> friends and he knew it: he just had to prove it.</em>
</p><p>"No." Stiles shook his head innocently.</p><p>"Then what is it?"</p><p>Stiles noticed Scott concentrate his hearing and decided to dodge the question. "It doesn't matter, okay? I'm going with Theo and we'll get things done. I promise."</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>Later that night, Stiles stood at the entrance of the hiking trail through the woods that he'd told Theo to meet him at. He'd decided the best way to get him on board was by tricking him: "<em>Come to the woods right now. Be quick</em>." Shortly after, he was shot a few texts back asking specifically where he was.</p><p>Only minutes had passed, when a blue truck was rounding the corner and parked in front of Stiles. Theo got out, then paused when seeing a perfectly safe Stiles alone.</p><p>"What do you want, Stiles?" he sighed and crossed his arms, staring at Stiles as if he were a misbehaving child.</p><p>"Heard about the cave?" Stiles raised his eyebrows.</p><p>Theo nodded. Stiles tossed him a flashlight, possibly harder than he should've, which he caught effortlessly.</p><p>"I'm good." Theo threw the flashlight back, then shining his eyes to the rich gold.</p><p>Stiles rolled his eyes, turned on his heels and made his way through the trees.</p><p>No conversation passed for the first ten minutes and Stiles soon realised that Lydia was right: traipsing through the woods in the middle of the night was something to avoid rather than seek out. The uneven ground was making Stiles' ankles twist in all sorts of unnatural ways and the branches above casted shadows everywhere except where the small beam of light from his flashlight pointed. Not to mention, the company wasn't too great either. Stiles began to discover that he'd much prefer to be doing this alone then with the presence of Theo looming over his shoulder.</p><p>"What are we doing out here exactly?" Theo asked, clearly as uncomfortable with the lone noise being an echoing void of nothing as Stiles.</p><p>"Surprised you haven't already put two and two together," Stiles said as he guessed which parts of the ground in front of him would be the flattest.</p><p>"Well, if you were anyone else I'd assume we're going to check out whatever the hell's tearing holes into people." Theo stopped. Stiles did the same, then turned back to the other boy. "But since it's you, I'm pretty sure you're just hoping I become one of the bodies."</p><p>"Hey, don't worry, I'll make sure it knocks you out before it kills you." Stiles gave two quick pats to Theo's shoulder, then continued with the path he'd been briefly instructed to take. "Besides, it's not like anyone would miss you."</p><p>Theo became tense as he started to follow again. "Don't you think I'd miss being alive?"</p><p>Stiles made an unnecessary leap over a thin stream of water crossing their path, then faced Theo as he kept walking backwards. "You think I'd care?"</p><p>"Thought you'd prefer to not get any more blood on your hands." Theo stepped over the stream.</p><p>For a split second, Stiles forgot that he hadn't actually taken Theo into the woods to have him killed, and seriously contemplated starting a fight he knew he wouldn't win. But, before having a chance to take the first swing, he remembered why he'd chosen Theo above anyone else and spotted the perfect segway into the... <em>conversation</em>.</p><p>Stiles stopped in his tracks. "Actually, no, I bet Liam would miss you."</p><p>"Okay…" Suspicion trickled from Theo's tongue, as his eyes narrowed and he passed Stiles at a strikingly faster pace.</p><p>Stiles made small lunges forwards to get behind Theo, but suddenly struggled to keep up. "I mean, you two have been getting really close recently, right?"</p><p>"I guess," Theo mumbled awkwardly. Stiles suspected Theo was in envy of himself from a few minutes back: when they weren't talking.</p><p>"God, how'd that even happen?" Stiles laughed. "It's like it was just yesterday you were trying to kill us, and now, well… now I see you two together more than apart."</p><p>Theo came to a halt and sharply turned to Stiles, with a more than slightly bothered expression. "What are you trying to say?"</p><p>"Nothing!" Stiles put his hands up in defense. "Is there something I <em>should</em> be saying?"</p><p>"I'd prefer it if you stopped saying anything, altogether," Theo grumbled and went on through the woods.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>The two searched aimlessly for an hour when Stiles began to think they'd been sent on some sort of wild goose chase. But, just as he considered calling it a night, they came face to face with the gouge in the mounted rocks. Even with the, now seeming dainty, flashlight, when studying the inside all he was met with was a vicious black. Despite his sense of immense danger, Stiles started to take a step into the cave.</p><p>"Are you crazy?" Theo held his arm out in front of Stiles and served a look of utter disbelief. Stiles shouldered passed him and into the cave.</p><p>Once only a few feet in, the flashlight began to flicker, startling Stiles enough to make him jump backwards. But he didn't want to turn back, he'd come this far, suffered for this long; it was too late to go home now.</p><p>He dropped the flashlight and the splash on the thin layer of water - that Stiles hadn't noticed - echoed loudly enough that he wouldn't be surprised if Scott heard from his house. Stiles felt around to his back pocket and plucked out the spare flashlight he'd intended on lending to Theo. But when switching it on, the beam too flickered uncontrollably: which was peculiar, since he could vividly recall putting new batteries in each of the flashlights before leaving his house earlier that night.</p><p>"You coming?" Stiles called into the bottomless void as he tried to force his eyes to adjust, even just slightly would be better than wandering blind.</p><p>He could feel the hesitation radiating off Theo before small splashes came closer from behind him, only disappearing when next to him. Stiles watched as Theo too blinked around the cave.</p><p>"I can't see."</p><p>Stiles hardly made out the creases in Theo's face.</p><p>"Then turn on your wolfy vision, dumbass." Stiles rolled his eyes and stared back into the abyss.</p><p>"I can't. They won't work," Theo said as if it was somehow Stiles' fault. "We need to go back."</p><p>"What? No!" Stiles protested.</p><p>"We can't see, we don't know what we're up against and you'd be no help fighting any threats."</p><p>"Hey, I've killed a chimera alone before!" Stiles folded his arms.</p><p>"Surprised you're bragging about that," Theo scoffed. He began to turn back towards the only consistent light source, being the moonlight that shined through the entrance.</p><p>Stiles put a hand on Theo's arm to pull him back.</p><p>"C'mon, the sooner you stop whining, the sooner we can go home," he huffed, leaving no room for argument. Theo reluctantly followed.</p><p>Wearily, they headed deeper in the cave and kept close to one another, using the lone blinking ray of light Stiles pointed steadily ahead of them.</p><p>"So, how come I'm here with you? And not like Scott or someone?" Stiles figured that it was probably about time he coughed up the truth. He peered over at Theo, to realise the boy's sight had adjusted significantly more than he's had since noticing him squinting at the ceiling and along the curved walls.</p><p>"Because–" Stiles bit down on the inside of his cheek, suddenly contemplating whether or not this was a good idea. "–I wanted to talk to you about something."</p><p>"About what?" Stiles primarily watched ahead of them, but still picked up the sensation of Theo's pinning glare.</p><p>"Liam." It was bound to come out: so why not in a pitch black cave, in the middle of the night, far away from any signs of other human life? Theo didn't reply, clearly awaiting an explanation. "More so, <em>you</em> and Liam."</p><p>"What about '<em>me and Liam</em>'?"</p><p>"Well…" Stiles then realised how ridiculous he was being. Why was <em>he</em> nervous? He'd brought Theo out to be interrogating him, not the other way round! He needed to swallow the lump in his throat and confront the chimera once and for all. Stiles paused and allowed his gaze to meet Theo's. "Are you and Liam together?"</p><p>"<em>What</em>?" Theo's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. "<em>No</em>, we are not… <em>together</em>."</p><p>"Really?" Stiles' eyebrows raised, unconvinced.</p><p>"Yes!" Theo looked at Stiles as if he were out of his mind. "Why would you even think that?"</p><p>"Come on, it's so obvious!" Stiles laughed through disbelief. "You're both just… so obsessed with each other - not in like a weird way, in a '<em>oh my god, can they just get a room already</em>' way."</p><p>"Uh…" Theo gulped and Stiles could swear he was blushing.</p><p>To confirm his theory, he pointed the, still blinking, flashlight at Theo's pink cheeks. Theo squinted and shielded his vision from the part shooting directly into his eyes.</p><p>"Oh my God, <em>have you</em>?" Stiles' jaw dropped and his eyes narrowed at the boy beside him.</p><p>"No." Theo's nose scrunched, and if Stiles didn't know any better, he'd guess Theo was disgusted by the idea. But he knew better. And the rose that covered Theo's face was yet to fade.</p><p>"But you want to," Stiles sang as a grin arose.</p><p>"Shut up." Theo shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, as he forced himself further into the cave.</p><p>All Stiles could think of was how he hadn't denied it, which meant it was true. He wasn't exactly thrilled by the thought of Theo and Liam together, but he was over the moon that he was right. And he couldn't wait to rub it in Scott's oblivious face.</p><p>Preparing to bombard Theo with every question that'd been creating tornadoes in his brain for the past week, Stiles began to catch up.</p><p>Just as his mouth opened, he was cut off by a deafening roar from deep in the cave. The two paused and exchanged glances of pure terror, then returning their focus to the void. Distant splashes came from what was presumably the source - it didn't take long to realise it was getting closer.</p><p>"We need to go," Theo whispered as he carefully backed away.</p><p>Stiles nodded slowly and held his hand over the flashlight. Another roar bounced off the walls, this time feeling like from only feet away.</p><p>Theo turned to Stiles. "We should run."</p><p>Stiles gulped and dropped his flashlight, which sounded far louder than what the one at the entrance had. He stumbled backwards, almost tripping over his own feet, and quickly picked up speed.</p><p>The two sprinted through the pitch black. Theo kept a hand on Stiles' back, keeping him in front: and as they got closer to the only known exit, the… <em>thing</em> got faster and closer to them.</p><p>When merely steps away from the outside, Theo tripped: causing them both to fall. They landed next to each other and Stiles noticed that the footsteps, that'd been edging in moments ago, had stopped. He wasn't sure when, but they had.</p><p>For some reason, they'd decided it was a good idea to stop and catch their breaths. Stiles saw the flashlight he'd dropped earlier in the night, and realised that's what Theo had slipped on. He leant on one of his hands and shifted his position onto his knees. Half expecting his wrist to be grabbed by whatever the hell had been chasing them, he reached forward and scooped up the flashlight. It was still flickering. Stiles sat on his legs to take a closer inspection of the somehow broken flashlight.</p><p>"Uh, Stiles…" Theo warned with a shaky voice.</p><p>"Yeah?" Stiles frowned at the broken light in his hands.</p><p>A growl rumbled into his ears from above, he peered up to be met by a creature he was grateful to have never seen before. It was as big as the beast, but had scales all over like a kanima.</p><p>The thing pulled its arm back and swung at Stiles, and if Theo had pulled him out of the way any later he would've been left bleeding to death. The two backed out of the cave as it sinisterly stomped towards them.</p><p>"What now?" Stiles spoke through uneven breaths, sparing a glance at Theo.</p><p>"Uh…" his eyes were trained to the monster among them. "Try not to die?"</p><p>"Yeah," Stiles gulped and focused back on the monster. "Let's go with that."</p><p>The monster growled and its eyes pierced from the iridescent blue to a deep black that resembled too much of the cave it'd been found in.</p><p>"Wait, woh, what's happening?" Immense anxiety flourished in Stiles' stomach.</p><p>"I think it's getting ready to kill us." Theo looked at Stiles. "Run?"</p><p>"Run!" Stiles hardly finished the word before he began storming back between the trees, Theo doing the same shortly after.</p><p>It was only a matter of seconds until it would catch up and restart the pile of bodies in its cave. The ground shook ferociously with each leap it took, and Stiles made the grave mistake of peeking back. It pushed trees down with ease to get closer and it was doing a good job of it too.</p><p>Once again, it pulled its arm back and swung - this time grasping Stiles' ankle and pulling him down. Seeming like in slow motion, it came closer to Stiles - making sure to not loosen the bruising clutch on his ankle. As it was about to make the gash into him that'd kill instantly, Theo appeared next to Stiles and sliced the monster's arm. It screeched into the night sky and let go. But when it's eyes re-met Theo, it looked more deadly than ever.</p><p>The pain in Stiles' leg had gone straight to his head and his vision became blurry. The next thing he saw, the monster was taking a step forward, and its foot was inches away from crushing his skull. He rolled on to his side, only barely saving himself. Though the monster still managed to kick him whilst moving, since his head suddenly was forced into the bottom of a tree.</p><p>Everything went black.</p><p> </p><p> ~</p><p> </p><p>When Stiles woke he was still lying on the dirty floor of the woods. He groaned with agony and rubbed the back of his head as he sat up against the tree he'd hit his head on. That's when he remembered why he'd been knocked out: the monster that'd been chasing them.</p><p>
  <em>Oh God, where was Theo?</em>
</p><p>As if on cue, a rumbling roar came from the direction of the edge of the woods. His sight was foggy, but after blinking some moisture into his eyes, he made out the thing and Theo not too far away. The monster had Theo on the ground with his wrists pinned above his head, leaving him defenseless.</p><p>"Hey!" Stiles tried to call out, but his throat was too dry and his voice too hoarse to catch the attention of the monster - that seemed just about ready to kill Theo on the spot.</p><p>Feeling the nausea and ache in his left leg instantly, he stood - plucking up the flashlight as he did so. He bit his tongue to suppress any groans of pain and did his best at running towards them without getting noticed.</p><p>When within a few feet of the monster, Stiles held the flashlight up and swung it with all the strength he had left into its head. The impact sent pieces of the flashlight scattering and the thing had been left without a single scratch: but it'd been stupidly distracted enough for Theo to get his legs up and kick the thing off him. It stumbled back and before Stiles had a chance to watch what its next move would be, Theo grabbed his arm and began sprinting in the direction of the hiking trail.</p><p>Their pace didn't drop until at least a mile away from where they'd last seen the monster charging at them, and it only did so because Stiles tripped on the thin stream he'd leaped over on the way in. He didn't fall to the ground, but abruptly slowing dawned the realisation of the prominent aches across his body.</p><p>"I don't think it's following us, we can just walk from here," Stiles said breathlessly, clutching his pounding chest. Theo agreed.</p><p>Neither of them spoke for a while, both startled by the unfamiliar creature they'd had to face. But then, almost wanting to lighten the mood, Stiles once again remembered why he was with Theo in the first place.</p><p>"I think he likes you too, by the way." Stiles limped along.</p><p>"Huh?" Theo's expression creased.</p><p>Stiles groaned and rolled his eyes. "You know: <em>Liam</em>? The guy you're literally in love with!"</p><p>"I'm not–"</p><p>"Oh my God, just admit it! I won't tell anyone!" That wasn't the original plan - the plan was to rub it in Scott's face at every given chance - but they'd just gone through a pretty terrifying experience and, unfortunately, it had made Stiles much more reluctant to throw him under the bus like that. Especially since he'd be dead right now if it weren't for Theo.</p><p>Theo peered over at him with hesitant eyes. "Fine. I– you know."</p><p>"Like Liam?"</p><p>"Yeah." Theo diverted his eyes, visibly more tense then seconds prior.</p><p>"How long?" Stiles didn't know why he cared, he'd gotten confirmation of all he needed to know; in fact, at the beginning of the night, he'd specifically decided that he wanted to know as little about their relationship as possible. But part of him felt bad and, for whatever reason, wanted to sort of comfort him. <em>God, how hard had he hit his head?</em></p><p>Theo shrugged. "Long enough."</p><p>"Long enough?" Stiles spoke with an unusually calmer tone.</p><p>Theo stared back at him with cold eyes. "Long enough to know that if anything was going to happen that it would've happened by now."</p><p>Stiles almost laughed when comparing how long he'd waited for Lydia - if he'd had the same outlook as Theo then who knows where their relationship would be. They'd been together for over a year and they were happy as ever. He wanted that for Theo and Liam. <em>Because seeing Theo so whiny was irritating. Definitely that.</em></p><p>"Or maybe he's just thinking the same as you are."</p><p>Theo bit his bottom lip and gave a doubtful expression.</p><p>"Or, well, let's be honest here, it's Liam. He probably doesn't even realise it himself."</p><p>Theo laughed and Stiles felt pride in making him feel even an ounce better.</p><p>"I mean–" Stiles continued. "–if I weren't paying so much attention to Liam, I might not have even realised you like each other."</p><p>That was a lie. When you knew what you were looking for, which he did, it was fairly easy to read that Theo liked him. But that didn't matter right now; best to let him think he's still good at keeping himself a secret.</p><p>They reached the edge of the woods and Stiles saw a shadowed figure leant against the far side of Theo's truck with a phone to their ear. They were facing a dim street light and waved a hand around as they spoke on the phone, seeming distressed. They'd must've heard the two coming, because they soon turned around.</p><p>"Liam? What the hell are you doing here?" Stiles' brows furrowed.</p><p>"What the hell is wrong with you?" Liam dropped the phone from his ear, ignoring Stiles and looking directly to Theo. "Why didn't you answer your phone?"</p><p>Theo frowned and took his phone out of his pocket to be met by tons of messages and missed calls. All from Liam within the past half hour. "That's weird."</p><p>Liam scoffed and folded his arms. "I was worried about you!"</p><p><em>Yeah, I love you too Liam.</em> Stiles rolled his eyes, realising he was clearly the far less important of the two to him.</p><p>"Why didn't you just come find us? Catch our scents or focus your hearing?" Stiles asked.</p><p>"Because I couldn't, it's not working."</p><p>"That doesn't make any sense…" Stiles stared at the ground in thought.</p><p>"The same thing was happening to me in the cave, I couldn't see a thing and I could hardly fight that thing off. It's like I was weaker." Theo looked at Stiles.</p><p>"<em>You got into a fight with something?</em>" If Liam wasn't panicking before, then he definitely was now.</p><p>"I'm fine," Theo said half-heartedly, visibly as deep in his head as Stiles.</p><p>"We gotta go to Scott." Stiles decided and fished the keys to his jeep out of his pocket.</p><p>"You can't drive, you need to go to the hospital," Theo interjected.</p><p>"<em>Hospital?</em>" Liam's eyes widened.</p><p>"We need to tell Scott."</p><p>"He'll meet us there, now get in the truck and I'll drive you." Theo left no room to disagree. Besides, if Stiles didn't give in, they'd be there the rest of the night and nothing would get done.</p><p>"Fine. I'll call him whilst we're on the way." He got into the backseat and pulled out his phone to dial Scott's number.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Bet you thought I was going to abandon this, huh? Welp, so did I, to be honest. I went through countless ideas (which I all started, some surpassing 1,000 words just for me to scrap it), but none of which felt right... until a few weeks ago when I thought up this :)</p><p>Now, you might of noticed that it is no longer 1/2 but 2/3 chapters... well, that's because I decided to write two additional chapters instead of just one. It is already written and ready to be uploaded tomorrow, so don't worry, you don't have to wait another 5 months for it 😂</p><p>But anyway, I am very sorry this took so long, but I prefer that it did rather than settling for a terrible ending (which you may be aware of how I feel about bad endings now since I complained so deeply about the ending of my fic "sickly missing" 😂).</p><p>So yeah... Expect the 3rd and final chapter of this fic out tomorrow :)</p><p>Kudos, comments, bookmarks and subscriptions are all highly appreciated. I love you all so much, and I'll see you tomorrow 🖤🖤</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you all enjoy the final chapter :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stiles knew he should fall asleep during the drive, he could hardly keep his eyes open half the time. But he couldn't bring himself to allow the sweet peace to flow through him when fear of forgetting something was taking up full capacity of his brain. Because sometimes the smallest, most unlikely of details happens to be what got people killed. And if someone died because of him… He didn't even want to consider it a possibility. He <em> needed </em> to stay awake.</p><p>During the first twenty minutes, Stiles called Scott and Lydia to meet them at the hospital. He'd hardly gotten a word out to Scott before he said he was on his way and hung up. Lydia waited for a little more information, whether it was to calm her nerves or rattle them even more. It was hard to tell, since it likely did both; it left less "<em>what</em>"s, more "<em>how</em>"s.</p><p>Stiles noticed the effects of the night creeping further in taking a toll on Theo too: his eyes fluttered shut with each passing second and his hands were noticeably slipping further down the wheel. It didn't make much sense why he was driving, as he was likely in just as bad of state as Stiles was. But Liam was yet to get his driver's licence and Stiles supposed it was better to have a tired driver then an inexperienced one.</p><p>"Just let me drive," Liam insisted for what could've been the hundredth time.</p><p>"No, it's fine." Theo shook his head and spoke with a rasp voice that had been building throughout the drive.</p><p>Within the next second, his body was falling forwards and he steered into the adjacent lane: where cars were coming straight at them. Honks from various horns pushed through the air and the headlights ahead of them sprung into their vision. Stiles clutched onto the car door and squinted as his heart pounded in his chest.</p><p>"Woh! Woh!" Liam quickly unbuckled his seat belt and flung onto Theo's side, grabbing onto his wrists and pulling them back into the correct lane. He looked back at Theo, who's eyes were barely open again. "Pull over. Now."</p><p>Absentmindedly, Theo nodded and pulled into the side of the road.</p><p>Liam retracted his hands from Theo's wrists and stared down at his - now coated in a tinted blue goo - skin. His eyebrows drew together. "What the…"</p><p>Once again, he leant across Theo and pulled up the sleeves of his jacket to reveal five marks of pierced skin on each arm. The monster - that <em> thing </em> - had done this to him. Whilst Theo was pinned to the ground it'd dug it's jagged claws into his wrists. But rather than leaving blood trickling from his wounds, a slimy consistency oozed out instead.</p><p>"That doesn't look too good…" Stiles leant forwards to take a closer look and suppressed his urge to vomit.</p><p>Liam peered up at Theo with helplessness sewn deeply in his eyes. He gulped. "Get out."</p><p>As Theo sluggishly undid his seatbelt and did as told, Liam opened the passenger seat door and did so himself. Stiles could feel the spikes in the breeze as the doors opened.</p><p>Theo stood beside the door for a few seconds too long and Stiles noticed how dizzy he seemed. It looked impossible to stand without stumbling back; he wouldn't have been surprised if Theo's legs snapped like twigs from the sharp wind. Theo grasped onto the door of the driver's seat and blinked a few times, like a poor attempt to clear the fog in his brain.</p><p>"Hey, dude, you okay?" Stiles asked wearily.</p><p>But without an answer, Theo's grip loosened as his legs gave way. Stiles and Liam exchanged panicked expressions through the windshield, then hastily making their way to Theo's now unconscious body.</p><p>Stiles watched with anticipation as Liam dropped to his knees and pressed an ear against Theo's chest. When he finally re-met Stiles' eyes, he was faced by even further panic.</p><p>"He's not dead, but it's faint." Liam glanced back at the almost completely motionless body in front of him. "What'd we do?"</p><p>"We need to get him to the hospital, as soon as possible… or he might not make it."</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>After some difficulty of getting Theo into the passenger seat of his truck, they were back on the road. There was another twenty minutes remaining of their journey and they were yet to come across anything that could help Theo. So Stiles called Deaton ahead of time, if anyone knew what to do it'd be him.</p><p>The call ended shortly and they went back to focusing on getting to the hospital before Theo was too far gone.</p><p>Stiles was leant forwards in the backseat, biting on the skin around the nail on his thumb, and in his peripheral view he kept watch over Theo.</p><p>In the corner of his vision, he noticed the boy shifting in his seat. Stiles turned to face him, but as he did so Theo woke up gasping for breath and his eyes shooting open. He clutched his chest, then looked back at the two faces staring at him.</p><p>"Where is she?" he asked through a hoarse voice.</p><p>"Who?" Liam frowned.</p><p>Theo scanned the vehicle and his muscles relaxed slightly when finding only Liam and Stiles watching over him. Apparently, he seemed to have thought he was somewhere else, with someone else.</p><p>"What happened?" Theo turned to Liam, acting as if whatever the hell just happened didn't.</p><p>"You passed out." Liam made glimpses between the road and Theo.</p><p>Theo groaned and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, it's coming back to me now."</p><p>They reached the hospital and were greeted by Scott and Lydia. Liam (<em>awfully</em>) pulled into a parking space and got out. Stiles did the same. He slammed his door shut and opened Theo's, then Scott and Liam helped Theo into the building.</p><p>Before Stiles got a chance to begin following in, he was sent stumbling backwards from the force of Lydia's arms wrapping around him. He hugged her back and squeezed his eyes shut.</p><p>"You are <em> never </em> going into the woods in the middle of the night without me again," she mumbled into his chest. "<em>Ever.</em>"</p><p>Stiles nodded and kissed her forehead. They reluctantly pulled apart and ran after everyone else, with one of their hands intertwined - held so close together that it could've been glued.</p><p>"What the hell happened?" Miss. McCall looked between Scott and Liam, who was holding up a hardly responding Theo.</p><p>"I don't know, but he's not healing," Liam answered. "For anything, he's getting worse."</p><p>Stiles and Lydia came up behind them, stopping beside Liam.</p><p>"He's definitely getting worse," Stiles intervened. "Is Deaton here yet? Because he needs help <em> now</em>."</p><p>"Right here." Deaton entered through the main entrance behind them like a miracle. "Now, let's get him to a room before things get out of hand."</p><p>He spoke as if things weren't already out of hand, but it burned some form of hope into Stiles that was fizzled out only seconds prior.</p><p>Liam and Scott helped Theo follow Deaton and Miss. McCall through some double doors, leaving Stiles and Lydia watching as bubbles of anxiety ran through their veins.</p><p>Lydia sharply turned her head to Stiles. "Come on, we're getting you a nurse."</p><p>She began pulling him in the opposite direction the others had gone in.</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"<em>Because</em>–" she abruptly stopped, facing her boyfriend again. "–Stiles, when you called me, you told me to meet you at the hospital because you'd been momentarily knocked unconscious! Just because Theo currently has it worse <em> does not </em> mean you're not a priority."</p><p>Stiles' heart warmed at the care in her eyes and he nodded, then continued to follow her to find a nurse.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>Hours had passed when Stiles woke in a hospital bed alone. Eventually, he and Lydia had found someone who could help.</p><p>It was a busy night at the hospital and the only rooms available weren't private. Stiles ended up next to Theo, in a long room with around eight other patients.</p><p>Lydia remained by Stiles' side until he could no longer fight sleep, but even when he woke his hand was still clammy. He assumed she had just left.</p><p>"Have some water." Stiles overheard Liam speak from what sounded like his left.</p><p>"No, I'm fine," Theo grumbled. Stiles could practically feel through the curtain the death stare Liam was serving. There was movement of Theo presumably taking a drink. "There. Happy?"</p><p>
  <em> The nerve of that kid. </em>
</p><p>"Theo, you could've– You were–" Liam cut himself off, though more likely through being unable to finish the sentence than not wanting to. "If we'd gotten here any later you'd be dead by now."</p><p>Silence passed between them.</p><p>Stiles sat up in his bed and watched the thin curtain as if he'd be able to see through it if focusing hard enough.</p><p>"I'm sorry…" Theo said softly. Stiles was left in disbelief to hear the words come from his mouth, but Liam didn't seem to be fazed - leading Stiles to believe it wasn't the first time Theo had admitted mistakes to the younger boy.</p><p>"If you had died… I don't know what I would've done without you." Liam confessed with, what sounded like, great difficulty.</p><p>"Probably a lot of stupid shit," Theo scoffed.</p><p>Liam chuckled. "Says the one who was almost on his deathbed just a few hours ago."</p><p>"Keyword being '<em>almost</em>'." Stiles could picture the smug expression plastered on Theo's face.</p><p>There was another pause.</p><p>"I'd miss you, you know?" Liam spoke hesitantly.</p><p>"Well, don't worry, because I'm not going anywhere." If Stiles had even an ounce less of self control, he'd pull back the curtain and confess their love for each other himself. But, unfortunately, this was out of his hands and up to them to hopelessly figure out themselves now.</p><p>Stiles diverted his eyes from their direction and found his phone on a small table to the right of the bed. He picked it up and turned the screen on to read the time; 6:30AM. He was both disappointed and surprised to find how much he'd slept.</p><p>It really had been a <em> long</em>, <em> eventful </em> night - to say the least.</p><p>He went to put his phone back down, when it slipped through his fingers. It fell as if in slow motion, then bouncing when hitting the floor.</p><p>Internally panicking, Stiles fumbled through his brain: trying to decide whether to grab his phone, watch the curtain expectantly or pretend to be asleep. But without being given a chance to reach a conclusion, there was a sound of movement from his left and the curtain was abruptly pulled back.</p><p>"You're awake." Liam was pale, as if he'd just seen a ghost, and his nerves were spilling out of him.</p><p>"Yeah. I, uh, I just dropped my phone." Stiles gestured to where his phone had landed.</p><p>"Oh." Liam's gaze followed the motion, then he went round the bed and picked the phone up. He wiped the screen on the sleeve of his jacket and handed it back to Stiles. "You haven't been, like, awake long, right?"</p><p>"No." Stiles shook his head, pretending to be suspicious of why Liam would ask.</p><p>"Okay. Cool." Liam nodded, diverting his eyes and biting his bottom lip - which was his most obvious tell for when coming up with a lie. "Because Scott wanted me to go get him as soon as you woke up. So, I'll… go do that."</p><p>"Okay," Stiles replied nonchalantly. It was better if Liam believed he'd gotten away with his and Theo's sentimental moment.</p><p>"Oh, and Lydia just went to the vending machine, she should be back any second now." Liam backed away. He looked at Theo. "I'll be back in a second."</p><p>He left the room slightly faster than what would be a regular pace.</p><p>As soon as the doors closed behind him, Stiles turned to Theo, who was sitting up and already watching him.</p><p>"You need to teach him to lie better."</p><p>"Definitely, that was painful." Theo nodded.</p><p>"So–" Stiles started, in a more serious tone. "–do they know what happened to you?"</p><p>"Not a clue of how that thing did what it did, but Deaton knew how to help. Something about nine sacred herbs," Theo replied, like the image was distant from his reality.</p><p>"That's good."</p><p>"Yeah…"</p><p>An awkward silence settled and Stiles remembered that they hadn't been together alone since Theo confessed his feelings for Liam: which felt like a lifetime ago.</p><p>"Hey, Theo?" A smirk tugged on Stiles' lips.</p><p>"Hm?" Theo re-met his gaze with curious eyes.</p><p>Stiles nodded towards the door Liam had exited through only moments ago. "I told you so."</p><p>Theo smiled back.</p><p>It was easy to say that the night had brought the two closer. Stiles knew that they were highly unlikely to become friends any time soon - since still finding Theo insufferable - but that wasn't to say that it would never happen.</p><p>Stiles hadn't exposed Theo's feelings for Liam like he'd planned to, he hadn't gotten them together and whatever they'd faced earlier had only left bigger issues: but he had a funny feeling that, with time, everything was going to turn out okay.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is so surreal. I seriously can't believe this is actually done... it's kind of sad really. This fic has been in the process for almost the whole time I've been on ao3 and now it's over. Huh... don't worry though, I'm definitely not leaving anytime soon.</p><p>It just feels so bittersweet to have finally finished this.</p><p>Okay, now, I'm going to cut this short before I ramble.</p><p>Kudos, comments, bookmarks and subscriptions are all highly appreciated. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you all soon 🖤🖤</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, again!</p><p>I've recently made an editing account on Instagram @th.iam_24, so you can send any story requests to me there if you'd like! :)))</p><p>And as always, thank you all so much for reading my fic! I'm still blown away by the attention I'm still getting from past uploads. Don't forget, bookmarks, kudos and comments are very much appreciated...</p><p>Now, I love you all so much and I'll see you next time! (If I'm ever actually able to finish something again...)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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